Ironer gear mechanism



Allg. 26, 1941. .1. w. RAcKLYr-:FT

' IRONER GEAR MECHANISM Filed Jme 29, 1958 INVENTOR m WZ F R m mam Mm n# h mm I n Patented".ug..--2I6, 1.94.1

` UNITED s'l-arlj s. PATEN azsaais T 'OFFICE moNaa Gaan Mit-ommen Jelmw. asesina, cleveland, ohio. anim to The Apex Electrical Manufacturing Company Cleveland, hio, a corporation lof Ohio Appucaunn June za, msg-.serial No. zic-,sis

l 4 claims; This invention relates to ironing machines and more particularly to a two-speed gear mechanism for use in connection withthe driving of an ironer roll. l

` The conventional ironing machine provided for domestic use includes arotating padded rollvand a heated shoe adapted to press or iron garments advanced between the roll and shoe.v Ordinarily the roll is rotated by means of an electric `motor through suitable gearing at a constant speed and the speed maintained is intended to be one which will substantially remove the'4 moisture from the average run of garments found in the household r laundry. 'Ihere are numerousoccasions. howof the roll in the conventional ironer and is about seven revolutions per minute. The other speed, which is a much lower speed, enables heavy garments or the like to be advanced between the roll and the shoe so that all of the moisture may be driven from the garment and the garment properlyv ironedr- This second or lower speed preferably about four revolutions per minute. "n A It is a further object of my invention to Drovide a simple, compact, two-speed gear arrangement` for an ironer drive,wherein the desired speed maybe easily selected by means of a lever conveniently accessible to the operatorV of the ironing machine. f It is a further object of my invention to provide a gear mechanism for an ironer in accordance with the preceding object, wherein adriven shaft is rotated at the same-speedas a driving gear, to'

, maintain a normal or conventional speed of the ,ironer roll and wherein the driven shaft is rotated at a lower speed than the driving gear. by, means of a planetary arrangement between the vdriving gear and driven shaft.

` It is a further object of my invention to projvide a gear mechanism for an ironer` in accordance with the preceding objects, wherein a` sun gear iscontrolled to maintainveither a direct drive or a lesser rotational speed between the r driving gear andthe driven' shaft.

It is a further object of my invention to pro (ci. sys- 59) vide a gear mechanism in accordance with the preceding obiect'in which the sun gear is axially gi'fftfd to eHect speed changes in the driven andthe appended drawing, wherein: Figure 1 is an end view withparts tion:

Figure 2 is an elevation" with parts broken -j away taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the l5 planeindica-ted at F3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 ls a sectional viewsimilar to Figure 3,

showing the sun gear shifted to obtain a low speed drive.

I have shown an ironer gear mechanism made according to my invention in an ironer indicated generally at O, which comprises a supporting stand 1, a bed frame or top 8, a gear case 9 and a roll and shoe I0 and Il, respectively, arranged in the usual manner. Preferably the shoe is fixed with respect to the bed frame 8 upon which it is supported andthe roll is of the type adapted to move toward the shoe. A power unit 'in the form of an electric motor Il is supported beneath the bed frame l and suitable drive mechanism is ineifect a lateral shifting of the roll toward the shoe. The specic mechanism employed to shift the roll toward the shoe forms no essential part of my invention, but is ypreferzsibly of the type shown in the patent to Racklyeft No. 2,087,447, July 20, 1937. The gear case s may be of a rigid cast construction provided with suitable bosses Toy transmit the drive from the' pulley I! to the worm gear shaft Il, which willl hereinafter be y referred to as the driven shaft, the said -shaft I I is projected through the wall of the compartthe speed change mechanism of my invention indicated in its entirety as at 25. The worm gear Additional objects. relating tu' siipucity in j construction and economies in manufacture, will fi' become apparent from the following description in section.; of an ironer mecha'nisu'n embodying my mung. l.

terposed between the power unit and the roll to ment ilandsupports upon its projecting end outer end to receive an internally threaded hub of a gear 'carrier 21. The pitch of the threads in the connection between portions 25 and 21 is selected with respect to the rotation of the shaft to effect a tightening of the threaded connection.

'I'he gear carrier member 21 is provided with av extended laterally beyond the threaded part thereof to provide a sleeve upon vwhich is rotatably mounted a sun gear 35 having teeth 35 adapted to mesh with the teeth of the planet gear 32. In addition to being rotatively supported upon the sleeve of the gear carrier hub .the sun gear is adapted to have a limited axial movement which in one position, as shown in Figure 3, brings lug 31 thereon into locking engagement with pin 38 carried within a groove 39 formed in the gear carrier.

With the sun gear in the position shown in Figure 3, it will be observed that rotation of the sun gear with respect to the gear carrier is prevented by the interlocking or abutting arrangement of the lug and pin 31-38, and that with such rotation prohibited, the planet gear 32 is restrained from rotation upon its own axis. Restraint of the planet gear results in rotation of the gear carrier-and-sun gear bodily in response to rotation of the pulley I9 and the internal ring gear 3l. The gear carrier being fixed to the driven shaft I8, the driven shaft I turns at the same rotational speed as the pulley I3 so as to establish and maintain adirect drive between the pulley I9 and the shaft I8. l

To bring about a reduced through the gear mechanism of my invention, the sun gear 35 may be shifted axially to the position shown in Figure 4, wherein the lug 31 and the pin `38 are separated from each other. `In this position of the sun gear,.a lug 4I at the outer end .thereof is brought into engagement with a boss or projection 42 carried by a detachable section 43 of the gear case. The engagement of the sun gear with thel gear case through parts 4 I42 prevents rotation of the sun gear and thus provides a reaction for the planet gear 32.

By referring to Figure 2,y it will be observed that with the ring gear 3l being rotated in the direction of the arrow 45 and the sun gear 35 being restrained from rotation, the planet gear 32 will be caused to rotate upon its own axis and atv the saine time to progress around the periphery of the fixed sun gearv 35. The progression or planetary movement of the planet gear will cause the gear carrier21 to rotate in the direction of the arrow 45 but at a lower rotational speed than the speed of the driving ring gear 3|. The difference in rotational speed between the driving gear 3I and the gear carrier or driven shaft i3 will be determined by the ratio of the sun, planet and ring gears employed.l

It will be understood from the above description of the gear mechanism in connection with the position of the parts in Figure 4. that the ironer roll driving shaft I 5 willbe rotated at a low speed (about half direct drive speed) so as or low speed drive shaft I8 is preferably threaded as at 25 on its to efficiently iron heavy garments or garments containing considerable moisture. It will also be understood that the gear `reduction will bring about a more powerful rotative force in the ironer roll to iron such heavy garments withf out undue strain upon the electric motor.

To maintain the ironer gear mechanism in either of its selected speeds, I prefer to employ a resilient latch device which includes a pair 0fannular grooves 48 and 49 formed on the inner periphery of the sun gear and a ball 50 normally pressed into one or the other of said grooves by a spring 5I. I have found that the spring-pressed ball insures that the sun gear will not be casually or inadvertently moved from its selected position by the force of drive or movement-of the parts. The sun gear may be manually shifted from either of its selected positions by means of a shifting yoke 52 and lever 53. The yoke 52 is provldedwith a pair of arms adapted to embrace the end ofthe sun gear and carries at the ends t of the arms, Pins 54 adapted to ride in the peripheral groove 55. The yoke 52 is keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to a shaft 56 rotatively mounted in thegear case part 43 and the oscillation of the shaft is controlled by moving the lever 53 as indicated by the 'dotted-line position ofv Figure 4;

In connection with the resilient latching means provided for the sun gear and the device shown for manually shifting the sun gear, it is pointed out that other latching and shifting devices may be substituted for those Iv have shown, depending upon the particular application or installation ofthe gear mechanism. i

In operation the electric motor I4 is started in the usual manner by operating switch, not shown,

andthe rotation of the motor is imparted by way of belt 20 to the pulley I9. vOrdinarily the gear I1 is continuously rotated and by means of clutcheavnot shown, this rotation is imparted to the roll shaft I5. Other mechanism, not shown, is automatically actuated to shift the roll I0 toward'the shoe II. Generally the gear mechanism ofmy invention is operated with the sun gear in the position shown in Figure 3 po that a direct drive is maintained between the pulley I9 and the driven shaft I5. When it is Ldesired to rotate the ironervroll I0 at a lower' speed, the operator moves the lever 53 to the position shown in yFigure 4,v whereby the planet gear is caused to progress about Athel sun gear and rotate the driven shaft I8 at a lower rotational speed thanthe speed of the pulley I9.

Although I have shown and described one form of my invention in considerable detail, it will be appreciated that numerous changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined .in the following claims.

I claim:

l. An ironer comprising a gear case, an ironer roll shaft rotatably mounted in said gear case, a motor mounted beneath the gear case, a driven shaft arranged transversely of the ironer roll shaft between said roll shaft and motor, belt pulleys on said motor and driven shaft connected by a belt, a planetary gear speed change mechanism` interposed betweenthe driven shaft pulley and the driven shaft, said mechanism comprising a gear carrier fixed to and supported by thel a driven shaft operatively connected to the roll, a

the gearcase to provide a manual control of said speed change mechanism through axial movement of said sun gear and means on said gear case adapted to engage said sun gear to afford a reaction lock for sa'id planet gear.

ladapted to rotate said roll shaft having one end Y. thereof housed within said detachable gear case section, a lchange speed mechanism carried by the end of the driven shaft housed within the detachable gear case section, said mechanism in- 1 cluding a gear carrier -fixed to the end of the last-named shaft provided with a peripheral bearing portion, a 'belt pulley mounted on said bearing portion provided with a ring gear, a planetary gear mounted on said gear carrier in mesh with said ring gear, an axially slidable sun gear in mesh with 'said planetary gear, manually operable means-having al portion projecting upon the exterior of said detachable gear case section and a portion operatively engaging said sunl gear, whereby the sun gear may be shifted raxially into-engagement with :the Wall of the detachable gear case section or away from said wall to control the drive through said change speed mechanism.

3. An ironer comprising a rotatable roll and a heated shoe, mechanism to effect relative movement between'` said roll and shoe, means to drive said roll at low and high speeds comprising driving gear mounted for rotation on said shaft, a gear carrier fixed to' rotate with said shaft, a planet gear on said carrier in mesh with said driving gear, a gear case enclosing said means and a Y to said sun gear projecting to the exterior of reaction member carried by said gear case. a sun 40 gear in mesh with said planet gear adapted to be clutched into operative engagement with said shaft or into engagement with said reaction v member, said sun gear when in engagement with said member being restrained from rotational movemen-t to effect a planetary movement of said planet and-gear carrier to establish a lowspeed drive, said sun gear when clutched into operative engagement with said shaft providing a vreaction for -said' planet to establish a'high-speed drive and a manually-operated control connected the gear case.

i 4. `An ironer comprising a rotatable roll and a v I heated shoe, mechanism to eifect relative movement between said roll and shoe,l means to drive said roll at low and high speeds comprising a driven shaft operatively connected to the roll, a I

driving gear mounted for rotation on said shaft, a gearcarrier fixed to rotate with said shaft, a

planet gear on said carrier in mesh with said driving gear,V a-gear case enclosing, said means and a reaction member carried by l'said gear case.

`a sun gear in mesh with said planet gear adapted action for said planet to establish a high-speed .drive and a manually operated controlhaving a portion projecting exteriorly of the gear case and a second portion within the gear 4case, said second portion selectively movable in one direction to establish a connection between said sun gear and said reaction member and movable in another direction -to free the sun gear of the rel action member.

' JOHN W. RACKLYEFT. 

